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High Coronary Calcium Score: How do others feel emotionally?
Heart & Blood Health | Last Active: Feb 13 9:01am | Replies (640)Comment receiving replies
This looks like a old discussion but will reply and add my details and comments. I am a 67 yo f and recently had a ct ld calcium scan after I noticed a cartoid artery blockage on ultrasound. My scan result was 1852. I then ordered a NMR to evaluate the makeup of my LDL and just like I suspected my small dense LDL was over a 1000. I had been taking 40 mg of pravastatin for over 20 years. This was shocking to me as my LDL Total was always in the 70's as was my HDL with my triglycerides almost always under 100. This was a enigma. I consulted with my cardiologist and endocrinologist about this and inquired as what would be a good treatment plan. The cardiologist told me that they don't normally test for particle size and do calcium scans as if they find something there is no FDA approved treatment. Here I had been going along fat dum and happy thinking all my cholesterol testing done over the past 20+ years indicated that I had 1/2 the risk of a Mace and now to find out it exceeded 10x+ the
risk. The medical "standard of care" is a broken model. If I had not taken it on my own to grab my own care by the horns I would not know I was a walking time bomb. Addionally it is a little known secret buried deep in the bowls of the medical literature that statins INCREASE arterial calcium.
I now fear this calcium is also effecting my renal system as my eGFR has been falling and Creatine has been increasing. I have now scheduled a complete parathyroid and renal ultrasound and laboratory work up. To see if my suspicions are again correct.
PLEASE DON'T LET YOUR CARE BE ON AUTOPILOT.
To reinforce the medical "standard of care" model is severely broken I argued in great detail why stopping the PSA test was such a hairbrained idea. They eventually brought it back and told the medical school profs a big I told you so. You have to realize the standard of care model is nothing more than a crude attempt at a cost versus benefit and utilizes a VERY BROAD basket of individuals with no understanding of the fact we're unique!
Sincerely
Roberta Holmes
I have tried all the vitamins with no results. You may need megadoses of V-K to see results but wasn't willing to go that far. Most likely will try next the biophosphates. BTW there are very few true experts on this phenomenon in the world.
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I feel your pain. Standard of care is broken, and I'm married to a gastroenterologist! Been told for years by doctors that I didn't have to worry about my cholesterol because I had high HDL and because it was the men in my family who dropped dead. Now I'm looking at a 256 CAC score at 64 years old. Thought I was in great shape, now feel like the "walking time bomb" because that score puts me in the 92 percentile which is considered high risk for heart attack. Saw a cardiologist who gave me the same standard of care BS so had my husband order all the tests that tell you what you need to know- LPa, APOB, fasting insulin, etc. and repeating lipids, etc. On a very low carb diet and doing my own research to stop the progression. Seeing one of the top researchers at UCLA tomorrow. Will report back to see what he has to say but statins do raise CAC scores so I'm not sold on taking them yet.
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I have not been following this thread but then I read your post above and boys does that open my eyes! I have had high cholesterol all my adult life, very high. But every time I tried statins I had horrible leg pains etc. so refused to take them. In 2018 I had a calcium score done and it was zero, much to my surprise. Then in 2019 I was diagnosed with diastolic dysfunction started seeing a new cardiologist who put me on Pravastatin and Zetia. I do not seem to have the symptoms I have had in the past from taking statins so I thought OK, this is great I will lower my cholesterol and not have a lot of bad side effects. After reading your post I researched this information about statins increasing arterial calcium and boy are you right! Talk about deep dark secrets! And then I found an article that said people with a zero calcium score are found to not benefit at all from taking statins. I’m stopping today! I hate all of this stuff. Thank you so much for posting that obscure bit of information and I’ll bet there are plenty of other people out there that are unaware of this fact